OK, it is no surprise that soon, there’ll be a new iPhone model out. One with 3G and perhaps GPS (or a GPS kit will be made available as an add-on). Considering that many smartphones come with both nowadays, this move isn’t a surprise. What is a surprise though is that it’s only going to cost $199. OK, these are just rumors at the time of posting, but I really jumped in my seat when I read this over at Engadget. I already have a Centro which is a really good phone, PIM and data management device, but it has a problem - a weak browser. The lack of a good browser is also the reason I do NOT miss WiFi or 3G. Email and IM works fine on EDGE speeds.

But, if an iPhone is going to be so cheap in the future, I’ll get a second phone without a doubt. It’ll double up as a PMP (an iPod no less!), an ebook reader and an Internet tablet.

The thing you could do with $199 these days amazes me.

P/S: The Centro costs just $99 subsidized. It’s about $399 unlocked.

1. NetBeans IDE 6.1 Download
   - if you’ve got an inner coder waiting to burst out, try this one. It’s user friendly and comes packed with features. I’m still using Eclipse though
2. Windows XP SP3 - not yet official so YMMV
3. Star Wars - Legacy of The Force Book 1 - it’s free for a limited time only. I love these marketing ploys where they offer the first book for free
4. Naruto Shipuuden Movie 1 - all Naruto fans, get yer fix here (torrent)

Watch this video:

Source: Video: iSwish puts the iPhone UI on any Windows Mobile phone - Engadget

Btw, if you’ve outgrown Windows Mobile and are using a Palm, ZLauncher has an iPhone skin that can pretty much make your Palm look like a static (non of the finger flicking stuff unfortunately) iPhone. It’s the only skin I would use on a Palm. Somehow Apple did manage to nail that simple yet elegant feel.

This is a superb replacement for Palm’s built-in phone software with a regular price of $19.95.

PalmInfocenter - TakePhone on Sale for $4.95

Bottom line: It’s a smaller, cheaper Treo and it is ‘perkier’. A few mm shaved here and there in a lighter package might not sound like much, but it actually does make a difference when you hold it in your hand.

I think this paragraph pretty much sums up the Centro (and Treo) regarding its features:

This phone is loaded, loaded, loaded.

This is not to say that more features are always better; it’s not. But if
you’re a feature counter, well, you may have just found your phone.

Touch screen? Check; there’s a flimsy plastic stylus tucked in the back, and
your finger works well, too. Camera? Check; the Centro takes very good
1.3 megapixel stills and videos. Memory-card expansion? Check; up to
four gigabytes. Removable battery? Check: 3.5 hours of talk time.
Ringer on/off switch? Affirmative; no frantically hunting through menus
as the concert hall lights dim.

And all for RM 1299. Granted its not as cheap as a US subsidized unit (which would just cost RM 315), but comparing to other phones in that price range, the Centro would pretty much be unrivaled. You probably be able to get just a feature phone at that price (remember, were talking non-subsidized phones here). The Centro is a full-blown Palm OS smartphone. If you close one eye to the lack of WiFi (hey, DiGi’s data unlimited plan is just RM 66 a month), the Centro will do everything you want it to.

Read the complete review here - Product Review Palm Centro Cellphone - New York Times.

I assembled my current PC on Oct 30th 2006. That’s more than a year ago. I was looking at the possibility of upgrading my processor to a newer one, considering Intel just announced a new affordable CPU - the Core 2 E7200. However, reading through the article, I notice its specs were much lower than my CPU (2.55GHz, 3MB of cache, 1067MHz bus, VT disabled vs 2.8GHz, 4MB of cache, 1600MHz bus, VT enabled).

How is it possible that a CPU I bought more than a year ago outspec the one just announced? Furthermore, the current high end dual-core CPUs max out at the lower end of the 3GHz spectrum - not enough to warrant an upgrade. Typically, you need a close to a GHz of clockspeed to see noticeable performance difference, all else being equal. The answer is simple - I bought my current CPU with overclocking in mind. The official speed is a measly 1.86GHz, 1066MHz bus.

In other words, done properly, overclocking does stretch your ringgit by quite a bit. Of course, the initial investment might be slightly higher - getting a good PSU and CPU fan is a must but in the long run, you save an upgrade cycle.